The cathedral was designed by Matthew Hadfield and built between in 1846 and 1848, its neo-Gothic design based on Heckington Church in Lincolnshire. Some of the stained glass and fixtures were designed by Augustus Pugin.
The building was extended in 1879, and became a cathedral in 1980. It is the centre of the diocese of Hallam, which covers South Yorkshire and northern Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.